Floss-holder attachment for tooth-brushes.



N0 898,845. PATENTED JULY 14, 1908.

O. J. MONSON.

FLOSS HOLDER ATTACHMENT FOB TOOTH BRUSHES,

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16, 1907.

mafter and set forth with claims appended hereto.

To all whom it may concern:

' ments in UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

OTTO J. MONSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FLOSS-HOLDER ATTACHMENT FOR TOOTH-BRUSHES.

Application filed Jul is, 1907. serial No. 384,024. I

Be it known that l, OTTo J. MoNsoN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of pook and State of Illinois, haveinvented new and useful Improve- Floss Holder Attachments forTooth-Brushes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a floss holder for holding a piece of floss orother thread whereby the spaces between the teeth can be readily andconveniently cleane The invention has for one of its objects to providea floss holder which can be used as an attachment for a tooth brush byapplying the same to the handle thereof.

Afurther object is the provision of a floss holder comprising a strip ofmetal bent into suitable shape and having spring jaws at its ends forreceiving the ends of the floss or thread, the holder beingpivotally'mounted on a handle.

With these objects in view and others, as will appear as the descriptionproceeds, the invention comprises the various novel fee tures ofconstruction and arrangement of parts which will be more fully describedhere particularity the In the accom anying drawing, which illustratescertain o the embodiments of the in vention, Figure 1 is a side 'view ofa tooth brush provided with the floss holder attachment. Fig. 2 is asideview of the floss holder provided witha handle. Fig. 3 is a plan view.Fig. t is a perspective view of the.

floss holder detached and drawn on an enlarged scale. Fig. 5 is asectionalview on line 55,'of Fig. 4:.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate correspondingparts throughout the several views.

designated generally by A.

Referring to the drawing, handle of an ordinary tooth is attached at itsouter end 1' designates the brush to which the floss holder This holderpreferably comprises a strip of spring metal 2 bent into U-shape andhaving its ends formed into spring I extremities of the strip backwardlyagainst the outside of the arms at. The bends 5 are provided withnotches 6 for receiving the thread of floss 7 and prevent the latterfrom becoming displaced while in use, the ends of the thread beingbrought downwardly over the Specification of Letters Patent.

aws or clamps 3 by bending the Patented July 14:, 1908.

outside of the spring jaws 3 and then under the same so as to beclamlped as shown in Fig. 4. The base portion of t estrip 2 has acentral aperture 8 for the reception of a pivot 9 for attaching it tothe han le of the tooth brush or a separate handle 10, as shown in Fig.2.- This pivot may take the form of a rivet as shown in Fig. 2 or a bolthaving a nut 11 as shown in Fig. 1, so as to permit the holder to bechanged from one side of the handle 1 to the other to suit the fancy ofthe user. The floss holder is free to turn on the pivot so as to readilyadapt it to the back, as well as the front, teeth. The ends 3 of themetal strip are reduced in width, as shown in Fig. 4 so as to bring theside edges thereof nearer in line with the notches 6, thus admitting'ofeasy application of the floss into the clamps. One e ge of each of theaws 3 is sharpened at 12, Figs. 4 and 5, so that the floss can be outthereby. 4

in practice the end of a spool of floss is in serted under one of thejaws 3 with a slight ortion extending therefrom so that is can be takenhold of when it is desired to remove the floss. The spool is unwound andthe floss stretched across the holder to the other jaw or clamp 3', carebeing taken to place the floss in the notches 6. After the floss is engaged under the second jaw a strong ull is exerted in a direction tocause sharp e ge 12 to sever the floss close to the jaw and withoutwaste. With the floss thus held taut the cleaning of the teeth isaccomplished by inserting the floss between two adjacent teeth andimparting a reciprocating motion, thereby dislodging any matteraccumulated between the teeth. All the teeth are cleaned in this mannerand when it is desired to take out the floss, the ends of the floss aredisengaged from the jaws so that a new piece can be substituted.

From the foregoing description, taken in 5 connection with theaccompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and of themethod of o eration will be readily apparent to those skil ed in the artto which the invention appertains, and while I have described theprinciple of operation of the invention, together with the device whichI now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, 1 de-' sire to have itunderstood .that the device shown'is merely illustrative, and that suchchanges may be made when desired as are within the scope of the claims.

Having thus described the invention, What vIclaim is:

1. A device of the class described comprising a handle, a pivot thereon,5 holding element mounted to turn on the pivot, said element comprisinga single piece of metal bent into spaced arms and having its extremitiesbent backwardly With respect to the arms to form thread holding clamps,thread cutting means on the said extremities, and means on the ends ofthe arms for holding the thread from-slipping laterally ed the latter. p

'2. ,A device of the class described compris- 5 ing a handle, a singlepiece of metal bent into a U-shaped structure and having its extremitiesbent backwardly to form spring clamps,

and a thread spring clamp the bends of the metal being notched toreceivea thread, the edges of the backwardlybent extremities beingsharpened to' form knife edges.

3. A device of'the class described comprising a handle; a strip of metalhaving spaced arms and bent at its extremities to form 5, the bends ofthe strip being rovided with notches, and a thread engaged in thenotches -nd having its ends secured by the clamps.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two WitnessesOTTO J. MONSON.

Witnesses:

JESSIE F. YORK, WM. H. CLARKE.

